1. Embracing the Unknown
Regarding Israel today there is much we don’t know about God’s plans and purposes. The Bible doesn’t answer every question about what is happening today. We are called to respond with wisdom, using His Word, prayer, counsel, and discernment (James 1:5).
2. The True Israel
This is what God said about the nation of Israel through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” This means Israel was special. If we hear that Israel is “God’s people” it’s because God himself said he chose them, “Out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” So it’s not wrong to think of Israel as being God’s special people. God Himself has led us to believe this.
At the same time, “Israel” is not often who we think they are. Romans 9:7-9 teaches us, “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.“
In other words, just because many got together in 1947 and declared Israel a nation doesn’t mean they are Israel in the most meaningful and spiritual way. If that were the case, it could mean that Israel didn’t exist as a nation from 586 BC to AD 1947. But who Israel is matters to God, and they have existed since God raised them up. It is just that they are not always who we, or even they themselves, have understood themselves to be. It’s worth reading again, as Paul explains, “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”
We are called to love our enemies, including those who are spiritually blind and opposed to the gospel. In my teaching on Romans 11, (here) I discussed why we should neither look down on the current nation that calls itself Israel nor become too politically supportive of them. The last half of that teaching delves into how Israel will somehow take the center stage upon the return of Jesus. God is the one who sets up all kings and nations. (Daniel 2:21, Romans 13:1) So 1947 was significant, but the timing and manner of Israel’s role in the end times remain a mystery. It is unwise for Christians to get overly involved in actively supporting Israel today. We must also avoid disrespecting them, and at the same time, recognize their spiritual blindness. They are enemies of the gospel because they are opposed to Christ’s mission. “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30) Yet we must love them and extend grace — as we would to an enemy (Matthew 5:44).
This implies that Christians may in fact be more like Israel than modern Israel itself. It seems this is exactly what Apostle Peter was telling Christians when he said, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) Only God knows who all the true children of the promise are. True Israel today is like Isaac or Jacob—children of God by faith (Galatians 3:7) not all Jewish unbelievers who call themselves God’s people, like Ishmael or Esau could have called themselves but weren’t (Romans 9:13). This is counter cultural to say much of this, but in my opinion it is the Christian, biblical New Testament perspective.
3. Loving Our Enemies
Gentile Christians are like foreign branches grafted into a tree, while unbelieving Jewish descendants are like the original branches that have been cut off (Romans 11:17-24). It is they who truly belong to God, and yet they continue to be enemies of God. It’s a delicate balance we walk as Christians regarding our thoughts and words about Israel. We must remain centered, neither overly supportive nor overly unsupportive.
Adorn the Gospel 